This is for attorneys and paralegals who answer "any update on my PERM?" several times a day. Most of those emails ask for one thing DOL already publishes, the case's status, and the client can read it without you: by case number, for free, with an email when DOL moves the case.

What the client needs

Just the DOL case number. Current ones look like G-100-26125-868956; cases filed in 2022 and 2023 use a shorter form like A-23043-00641. It's on the ETA-9089 filing receipt. Prevailing wage, LCA, H-2A, H-2B and CW-1 numbers work in the same box.

Which question goes where

The client asks	Where they can read the answer
Has DOL decided my case?	The case lookup: DOL's status in plain English
When will it be decided?	The same page: an estimated date, labelled as an estimate
Where is DOL in the line?	The queue page, by filing month
What does "RFI issued" mean?	Every status, explained
How long does DOL take on average?	Processing times, from DOL's own figures
Tell me when something happens	"Email me changes" on the case page

On the averages, DOL's own published figure today is 336 days as of October 5, 2026, and the processing times page carries its date.

Three ways to set it up

Send the link once

At engagement, or when the ETA-9089 is filed, send the client the case number and permtracker.app/perm-case-status. The lookup needs no account.

Let them turn on the alert

On the case page, "Email me changes" sends them an email when DOL moves the case. They confirm by email first, and one click turns it off. A status change is emailed at once.

Or put the checker on your own site

The case checker runs inside any web page. It's free, and the code is on the badges and embeds page and in For attorneys.

The checker is one iframe and a source line:

<iframe src="https://permtracker.app/embed/case-status" title="Check a DOL case" width="100%" height="560" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="margin:4px 0 0;font-size:13px">Source: <a href="https://permtracker.app/perm-case-status">PERM Tracker</a></p>

A reply to keep on file

For the emails that still come in, a pre-written answer saves the context switch. Adjust it to your firm's voice:

Thanks for checking in. Your PERM is with the Department of Labor under case number G-100-XXXXX-XXXXXX. You can see its current status any time at permtracker.app/perm-case-status, and turn on an email for when DOL moves it. DOL's own search is at flag.dol.gov/case-status-search. We'll be in touch as soon as there's anything you need to do.

What the client sees, and how current

The status comes from DOL's own case-status search. Per the case lookup, every case is read once a day, every undecided case at least twice a day (three times on weekdays), and cases with an alert on them every 5 minutes on weekdays and every half hour at night and at weekends. It's a sweep, so a case decided since the last read shows at DOL first, and DOL stays the authority for any single case. DOL's own case status search answers the same question directly.

What it doesn't show

Your firm's work. Recruitment in progress, a draft RFI response, what you're waiting on from the client: DOL's record holds none of that.
USCIS. After certification the I-140 is with USCIS, and its receipt number isn't a DOL case number.
Anything DOL hasn't published. The wage, worksite and law firm on a pending case appear only once DOL publishes the case in its quarterly files.

The lookup can answer the "has anything happened?" emails. The questions that need judgment still come to you.

For the firm's own side

PERM Tracker's app is free and PERM-only: it works out each case's recruitment dates, filing window and I-140 deadline from the dates you enter, with reminders and calendar sync. It isn't a client portal, a forms tool or a billing system. More on For attorneys.